From 1988 to 2002, she served in several positions within the Fairfax County Public Schools based in Fairfax, Virginia, including high school English teacher, assistant principal, minority student achievement monitor, and principal.
In 2002, she became an Area Administrator for the Fort Wayne Community Schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving in that post until 2004, when she returned to the Fairfax County Public Schools in order to serve as an Assistant Superintendent until 2006.
[3] In September, 2015, Lowery resigned as Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education in order to become the first President and chief executive officer of FutureReady Columbus, a Columbus, Ohio–based non-profit organization specializing in early childhood education.
[5][6] In September, 2018, she became Vice President of Student and Teacher Assessments at the Princeton, New Jersey–based Educational Testing Service.
[7] Lowery retired from Educational Testing Service in January 2022. and died three months later on April 13, 2022.